Dutchover overcomes tough final round to win PAL tourney

Oscar LeRoy oleroy@mrt.com

Published 4:14 pm, Monday, October 15, 2012

It's tough enough to fight three bouts in a week at a national boxing tournament, but Midland's Michael Dutchover also had to fight an opponent that was unknown to him and many other people at the Police Athletic League national boxing tournament last week.

Despite the obstacles Dutchover faced, the 14-year-old won the 119-pound division when he defeated Detroit's Christian White by 9-8 score over the weekend at the tournament held in Toledo, Ohio.

The win was the fourth tournament title for Dutchover since losing at last February's Silver Gloves tournament, following victories at the Junior Golden Gloves, the Ringside World Nationals and at the Texas State Junior Olympics.

"He set a goal to win all the tournaments he entered, and that's what he's done," said Frank Lujan, Dutchover's trainer at the Clayton Williams Jr. Boxing Center.

Dutchover was also fighting at 119 pounds for the second time, up from the previous 114-pound weight class. Lujan said it seems that Midland Freshman student has handled that transition very well.

"He's big, muscular and strong," Lujan said. "What we train more is in endurance. And because of that, we're pretty much guaranteed to win the third round because he's stronger than most of his opponents. Opponents tend to punch harder at this weight class but Michael has to box and use his experience more. He's done that very well. Michael is very fast with his hands and on point with his punches."

Dutchover needed that experience over the week as he was the only boxer in his weight class to have three bouts.

He opened the tournament on Monday with a dominating 28-4 victory over Denzel Jones, from Edgewood, Md.

Dutchover had a little tougher fight on Wednesday against Steven Galeano, from Bronx, N.Y., but prevailed, 11-3.

The finals had Dutchover against White and Lujan said there was a bit of controversy as White had not fought in the tournament and White had made it to the finals because another kid had not made weight. Lujan said the fact that White had not fought put Dutchover at a disadvantage because White had seen how Dutchover fought.

"They didn't give us a chance to say something about it because when we found out about it, it was time for us to fight," Lujan said.

Lujan said Dutchover lost the first round, then fought an even second round before dominating the third round to win by a single point on the judges' scorecards. It was the third win for Dutchover at the PAL Nationals.

Up next for Dutchover, who will be turning 15 in November, will be the Silver Gloves tournament, which begins with regional-round competition in December.